Tennis Europe Junior Tour

Boscardin Dias & Andreeva claim Avvenire titles

Boscardin Dias & Andreeva claim Avvenire titles

Category 1 Torneo Avvenire - Milan, Italy | Gallery

Continuing to display that great from which took him to a win in Foligno just seven days ago, Pedro Boscardin Dias captured his second successive Category 1 title in Italy, this time at the 16&U Torneo Avvenire in Milan. The girls’ champion was none other than 14 & Under #3 Erika Andreeva, posting her first win in this age category. One of the world’s most prestigious 16 & Under titles – this year celebrating its 54th edition – the tournament saw some of the biggest upsets of the year and some in-form players making their mark.

The tournament’s motto is “keep the promises” and that it surely did, delivering a host of delectable tennis matches. Upsets abounded in Round 3, as girls’ top seed Antonia Ruzic, winner of the Hungarian Open and runner-up in Torelló, succumbed to 13th seed Selin Lidya Sepken of Turkey in a tough three-set match. The in-form Biella champion, unseeded Italian Jennifer Ruggeri fell to fourth seed Tara Wurth. In the semi-finals, the Croatian was to fall to second seed Erika Andreeva of Russia, who was a 14&U semi-finalist at the Kremlin Cup Junior and winner at the Wilson Open. The Russian was in blistering form, not dropping a set on her way to the final. Playing local Asia Serafini in the final, the match was to be another story as the inspired local, buoyed on by a strong entourage and a home crowd, put up a strong and sustained fight in the first two sets. Playing her third straight three-set match was a tough ask on Serafini, as she capitulated in the final set.  The 7-5 6-7(5) 6-1 win thus gave the Russian her biggest ever win and a satisfying one at that, as it came on one of the tour’s biggest stages.

The boys’ draw boasted a field of hot young talent. As the tournament progressed, most of the top seeds and in-form players made their way through to the quarterfinals, with the exception of second seed Peter Fajta (HUN) and fourth seed Adam Jurajda (CZE), casualties in the third and second rounds respectively. The latter had gone down to in-form Daniel Rincon of Spain, the Torelló champion. His great run was eventually halted by a player on an even bigger roll – Boscardin Dias. The Brazilian then made it through to his second final in as many weeks after overcoming a treacherous match against local wildcard Luciano Darderi in the semis. His final opponent was Mario Gonzalez Fernandez (ESP) ranked 336 and the surprise of the week in Milan. The unheralded Spaniard had earlier caused the upset of the tournament taking out the hot favourite Luca Nardi, the top seed and reigning Tennis Europe Junior Masters champion. Boscardin, however, was in the zone and despite a tough first set lifted his second major trophy in as many weeks with a 7-5 6-3 victory.

It was a great tournament for Gonzalez, as he also made an appearance in the doubles final, taking the title decider with compatriot Mario Mansilla Diez. After the top seeds were knocked out in their first match, the draw opened up for the Spaniards and they took full advantage. The number two seeds from Serbia, Stefan Popovic & Dimitrije Zubac, were no match for the Spanish pair as they took the trophy with a 6-2 6-4 win, thus notching a maiden title for both players.

In a repeat of last week’s Foligno final, Uruguay’s Guillermina Grant and Brazil’s Nalanda Teixeira Da Silva scored another straight sets win over Beyda Baykal (TUR) & Pola Wygonowska (POL). They relinquished just one game more than they had the previous week, posting a 6-3 6-4 win in what has been a productive tour so far for the travelling ITF/COSAT team.

Category 2 Riga Open - Riga, Latvia | Gallery

One of the tour’s biggest events as far as sheer numbers are concerned, this tournament is going from strength to strength and attracts a vast number of players from across the continent and beyond to participate in the three age categories. In the 14&U and 16&U finals, the tournament saw eight finalists from 7 different countries and, as it would turn out, four champions of different nationalities.

Unlike in Milan, there was no major upset here for the 16 & Under top seed, as local #1 Edvards Toedors Liepins sailed to the semis. Forced to win a third set tiebreak against Lithuanian seventh seed Pijus Vaitiekunas, the local player improved his head-to-head status over his rival to 2-0 and advanced to his third final of the year, having finished as runner up at the Estonian Junior Open and the Kaleva Open. Not to be denied a third time, the Latvian was on his game as he faced another Lithuanian; third seed Ainius Sabaliauskas. Home soil advantage was certainly a huge boost, as Liepins waltzed to a confident 6-0 6-1 win to claim his maiden title of 2018.

Liepins and Sabaliauskas were again on opposite sides of the net in the doubles final, pairing with Andrei Remi Jakobi (EST) and Vaitiekunas respectively. There was to be some good news for Sabaliauskas, as the Lithuanian pair exacted some revenge of Liepins and his partner, albeit by the slimmest of margins, scraping home to a 3-6 6-2 10-3 win.

Klaudija Bubelyte came into the event looking to win her second event of the year. As top seed, she blitzed through the field, not dropping a set and winning three sets to love on her way. There, she would meet Russian fourth seed Victoria Matasova, who had earned her spot in the decider after a thrilling come-from-behind win over Canadian second seed Dasha Plekhanova. In yet another one-sided final victory for a top seed, the Lithuanian powered to a 6-1 6-0 win.

Plekhanova teamed with Aurelia Riga (EST) to face Hanna Serhel (BLR) & Darya Zubtsouskaya (BLR) in the girls’ doubles final. Again, a tight championship tiebreaker decided the outcome - the 7-6(2) 4-6 10-7 win gave the title to the Canadian-Estonian combination.

The boys’ 14 & Under top seed He Ziheng of China progressed to the final as expected, but not before being tested in the quarters and semis by two Dutch players, sixth seed Daniel Verbeek and Steffan Van Weldam both of whom extended him to three sets. As expected, he faced off against second seed Maxim Cazac in the final. The Moldovan was playing in his second final of the year, having won in Bitola in the Spring, but he was left wanting as Ziheng saved his best for last. The Chinese player sprinted to 6-3 6-2 win for an amazing fifth tournament win of 2018.

Belorussian Maryia Stsetsevich reached her first final in Riga after defeating third seed Emilija Tverijonaite in a tough three-set semi. Her opponent was Celine Naef (SUI), twice a champion already this year, who had steamrolled through her section of the draw. Making light work of second seeded Belorussian Hanna Tsitavets in the semi-finals, Naef made her intentions clear for the final. Facing the unseeded Stsetsevich, the Swiss player showed no clemency to the unseeded player participating in arguably her biggest match ever, running away with the match and the title with a clinical 6-2 6-2 win.

Van Weldam & Verbeek regrouped after their singles losses to win the boys’ doubles event over the top seeds from Switzerland Dylan Dietrich & Ioannis Von Meyenberg, while Stsetsevich also got some consolation, winning the doubles with Tsitavets over Valeria Maija Kargina (LAT) & Maria Popova (CAN).

For full results in all events and categories here and elsewhere from this past week, please click here, or to view the week's photo galleries, click here.  

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